Fish farming focus of film festival at Astor Theatre
Brian Muldoon of Protect Liverpool Bay says he hopes people will come out for the New Privateer Film Fest at the Astor Theatre. (Rick Conrad)
Hearings into fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay have been on hold for more than a year, but a group that fights ocean-based aquaculture says the issue isn’t going away.
To help keep awareness alive, Protect Liverpool Bay is holding a mini film festival on Thursday at the Astor Theatre.
Brian Muldoon, spokesman for the group, says they’re teaming up with Healthy Bays Network to put on the event.
“And we thought this would be a perfect time to bring people up to speed, show a couple of documentaries, and so the New Privateer Film Fest is this Thursday, June 26th at the Astor Theatre. (It’s) free to get in, and it’s from 6:30 to 9:15.”
Documentaries being screened are the CBC-produced The Salmon that Divides the Maritimes, a Greek documentary called The Sanctuary of Poseidon and Scale of Change from Hooke and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.
“It’s three excellent films,” Muldoon says. “I hope the community will come out and watch them, and then there’ll be an update on Protect Liverpool Bay and where the application stands with the Aquaculture Review Board.”
Last March, Nova Scotia’s ARB suspended planned hearings into an application by Cooke Aquaculture’s Kelly Cove Salmon to expand its operations near Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay and add two new fish farms off Brooklyn and Mersey Point.
Since then, there has been no movement on the hearing and no word from the aquaculture review board.
“It hasn’t gone away, and when I speak to different individuals in town, they go, ‘Oh, I thought it was a done deal,'” Muldoon says.
“I think it’s good to keep them updated and to keep top of mind, and here’s an opportunity leading up to our infamous Privateer Days weekend of celebration to give people an update. This will kind of bring them up to speed on what’s happening with fish farming on the East Coast.”
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told a business crowd in Liverpool in February 2024 that he was personally opposed to the expansion. But he has since talked about the need to expand resource development in the province.
“On the West Coast, they’re closing down fish farms, not renewing licences, trying to get them out of the waters and yet on the East Coast the message is ‘we’re open for business, come and let’s expand.’
“And we just don’t think that’s right.”
The New Privateer Film Fest begins Thursday at 6:30 at the Astor Theatre. It’s a free event, but Muldoon says donations to Protect Liverpool Bay are welcome.
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com
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